Govt orders hitman's arrest for killing political opponents

An order by the office of Zimbabwe's attorney-general (AG) for the immediate arrest of a government agent implicated in the murder of two political opponents six years ago is being met with scepticism by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

In the run-up to the 2000 parliamentary elections, Joseph Mwale, a Central Intelligence Organisation operative, was witnessed by scores of people petrol-bombing a car carrying three MDC activists. The driver of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, Talent Mabika, and Tichaona Chiminya were burnt to death, but Sanderson Makombe managed to escape and has since fled to the United Kingdom.

The killings in Tsvangirai's parliamentary constituency of Buhera, in Manicaland Province on the Mozambican border, came shortly before the most closely contested elections since Zimbabwe gained independence 20 years earlier. The MDC, less than six months old at the time and in many ways at the zenith of its popularity, snatched nearly half the country's constituencies from President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party. MDC support has waned since those elections and internal wrangling split the party last year. The parliamentary election was condemned by many monitoring groups as not free or fair.

Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the MDC faction led by Tsvangirai, told IRIN that Mwale would not have committed the very public murders at a rural shopping centre unless he had been guaranteed some form of government protection.

"We have always said that the political violence that we have had in Zimbabwe since the 1980s was not inter-party or intra-party, it is state sponsored. Some of the people who have committed some of the most diabolical acts of brutality have found sanctuary in, and are being protected by, ZANU-PF. While we may appreciate that some sections of society are doing the best they can to ensure that justice is done, we believe justice will not be done."

Mwale was promoted in the wake of the 2000 elections and was recently awarded a prime farm in the eastern part of the country, despite repeated calls by international and local human rights organisations for his arrest.

"To expect justice to be delivered in this case is missing the mark. This is a charade designed to hoodwink the international community into believing that the rule of law is back in Zimbabwe, which is totally untrue," Chamisa said.

Local media reported that Levison Chikafu, of the Manicaland AG's office, had written to the province's police chief, setting a deadline of 6 October for him to produce Mwale's docket. "The accused is facing a charge of murder which was committed in the year 2000. The docket was referred to your office with instructions that you arrest Joseph Mwale and bring him for initial remand. To date, we have not received any information pertaining to the progress made by your office. I need to go through the docket, with a view of taking up the matter with my superiors," the letter reportedly said.

Otto Saki, of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, told IRIN the AG's order had not come as a surprise. "The order from the AG's office to arrest Mwale is designed to enable the government representative to tell the world that they are addressing human violations," and was viewed as part of a broader public relations strategy ahead of the 40th session of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights in Gambia next month.

"For now, all that we have heard about the Mwale case are statements - we are yet to see their sincerity," Saki said. "He is a person who was living within the country's borders, and could have been arrested a long time ago if the government was committed. We will only believe them when he is wearing the prison garb."

Late on Monday 16 October the police had still not arrested Mwale.

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